Michael Fisher
PANAJI: Mangoes which was once a fast moving product is not so today thanks to their high prices, and poor quality.
Mr Rafiq a fruit retailer said, among the three most sought after mango varieties, the Alfonso is fetching Rs 350 to Rs 400 a dozen, Musarad a little over Rs 1,000 a dozen and Mancurado which is sold at Rs 1000 a dozen is presently out of stock due to want of buyers.
He said mangoes have a shelf life which is about a week or less, if not sold the retailers would have to bear the cost. Once the mangoes start to ripen the cost comes down to less than half.
Mango ordering is done in advance at the wholesale market, where presently 100 Musarad mangoes cost Rs 9,000, 100 Mancurado Rs 12,000 and 100 Nikha Alphonso Rs 7,000.
Wholesale orders are less due to lack of retail buyers at the present prices and according to market rumours mango stocks will start pouring in by April end, when the prices are expected to come down a bit, other retailers said.
Buyers understand forced ripening of mangoes, they said adding this spoils the quality of the mangoes, and is the other reason why mangoes are not moving fast.
Raw mangoes are dipped in endo-sulphur , which changes their colour into yellow giving a ripened look.
The forecast for this mango season is a mixed bag. The Agriculture Director Mr Satish Tendulkar predicts an average yield of 5,000 tonne of mangoes this season from 4,339 hectares of land. This yield is 25 per cent less over last year’s crop, attributed to adverse climate factors. But, mango growers from south think the opposite. An unusual situation is noticed with some mango trees in South Goa. Due to the late flowering, the trees have started producing mangoes late which will be ready for plucking from mid-April, simultaneously some of the trees have started flowering again.
Pointing to a tree, Mr Jacinto Miranda a mango grower in Borda, Margao, said "this is good news, but very unusual, a mango tree producing fruits and flowering at the same time, trees like this will bear more mangoes."
He said the state government can do better for mango growers by organising mango exhibitions at different cities in Goa and holding workshops on a regular basis explaining on how to maintain mango trees.
He said, a special chemical hormone when sprayed on the mango tree increases the flowering and production of mangoes, but has a side affect. The branches fall because it cannot hold the weight of the mangoes; workshop on how to use this chemical will help mango growers to yield more mangoes.
A mango grower from Panaji wishing anonymity said another reason why Goans don’t have the privilege to eat local mangoes, because most of Goa’s best varieties are exported.
Explaining, he said, speculating traders buy mangoes in advance (hedging when the trees are at flowering stages. They offer the owner good prices in the range of Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 and more luring them into selling the mangoes of that season.
The owners give in, and later realise that they could have earned much more. Mango jams and pickle makers have expressed fear that high sugar prices will make their product more costly. In another development, the Goa State Horticulture Development Corporation (GSHDC) is contemplating a ripening chamber for fruits and vegetables on an international level, that will regulate the products, said agriculture officials.
